Electrocution Lessons

The problem with finally getting round to watching loads of US sitcoms over the past year or so is that I immediately want to turn Dirty Feed into a fan site for each of them. Sadly, I have zero time to do this. In a parallel universe, somebody very rich is paying me to spend all my time writing stupid shit about All in the Family, rather than worry about World Cup weather delays.

So you’ll have to wait a few decades for my in-depth piece on why I’ve recently fallen in love with Married… with Children. Suffice to say that when you’re watching a show as measured and responsible as All in the Family, it’s a lovely contrast to also watch a programme which is simply interested as being irresponsible and gleefully unpleasant as possible.¹

It’s also a show which is far better made and more thoughtful than it’s often given credit for. Take a look at the following clip from Season 5 episode “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”, transmitted by Fox on the 18th November 1990. On the page, it’s a very standard gag: Bud gets an electric shock while mending the doorbell, because Kelly hasn’t turned off the electricity. Cue a Looney Tunes moment with a smoking Bud.

Now, there’s a very obvious way to shoot this scene if you’re making an audience sitcom: record the part with Bud going to fix the doorbell in front of the audience, and then play in a pre-recorded shot of him after being electrocuted. If the production was feeling brave, they could shoot his appearance after being electrocuted in front of the audience, with a recording break in-between to add the make-up and smoke effects to David Faustino.

Married… with Children does neither of these things. It decides the funniest thing is to do it all in one shot, in front of the audience. So that’s what they do. The result is a pure piece of stagecraft magic, and turns a standard gag on the page into something wonderful.

I wonder how many people were standing just outside the door, ready to do David’s hair, make-up, and to set off the smoke effects.² Note also how brilliantly David rides the laugh when he reappears; one of the best things about Married… with Children is seeing him develop his comic timing over the first few years of the show. Christina Applegate’s corpsing is the icing on the cake.

This scene is everything I love about television. A production going out of its way to do something difficult; not to draw attention to itself, not to win awards, but just because it’s the funniest way to do something. A cut would hurt the rhythm of the scene – and at least subconsciously make it feel like cheat. And of course, doing it live in one take also vastly improves the studio audience reaction.

It’s a commitment to comedy which is stamped over every frame of Married… with Children. It is singularly interested in getting you to laugh as hard and as often as possible, and will do anything to get you there. And that’s why, no matter how unpleasant the show is being at any given moment, it’s also so goddamn lovable.

1. This is not an idle comparison; both shows share a lineage, and not just in terms of being American videotaped audience sitcoms, a trend which started with All in the Family. No, there is an overt connection: co-creator of Married… with Children Michael G. Moye used to write for the Lear television factory, including All in the Family spin-off The Jeffersons. ↩

2. It is notable that David never turns his back to the camera throughout the entire scene, so he was clearly already wearing the smoke mechanism from the beginning in order to save time. ↩

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